Just be glad I’m functioning enough not to puke all over my keyboard! Where were YOU this morning, anyway? I wasn’t even aware the world existed until well after 7:30 am this morning. Man, I desperately needed my sleep last night.

We sure had fun at our house yesterday. If you remember, last week I said that daughter Reesa was going to be teaching her summer course at Cambridge again this year after her Shakespeare in the Park was over in New York. Well she got to England about dinnertime on Tuesday. Yesterday we got a tweet that her IPhone wouldn’t work. (Yes we have International calling and all that stuff). All of her associates are local Brits so she had no way to call ATT tech. services. Dee and Reesa got on Facebook Chat and I called ATT on my IPhone on “speakerphone”. (My phone is the “Master Account”). The tech guy (Dennis) would tell Dee to have Reesa do something, she would “chat” Reesa, Reesa would do it and chat back when finished and Dee would tell Dennis whether it worked or not. After about 10 “fixits” and 45 minutes, we got it working. Dennis was super sharp and the nicest most patient guy in the world. I told his supervisor how great he was. The supt. said he was going to commend him and also have a memo issued on how to fix IPhones when you can’t get in contact with them. All in all, a frustrating problem turned into a nice experience.

A generic Republican candidate now holds a four-point lead over President Obama in a hypothetical 2012 election matchup. It’s a fifth week in a row that the GOP candidate has been ahead and the widest gap between the candidates to date.

The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds a generic Republican candidate earns support from 46% of Likely U.S. Voters, while the president picks up 42% of the vote. Three percent (3%) prefer some other candidate, and nine percent (9%) are undecided.

Last week, the Republican held a 45% to 43% advantage. In weekly surveys since the beginning of May, support for Obama has ranged from 42% to 45%, while the Republican has earned 43% to 46% of the vote. Rasmussen Reports will provide new data on this generic match-up each week until the field of prospective Republican nominees narrows to a few serious contenders.

Republicans also hold a seven-point lead over Democrats on the Generic Congressional Ballot for the week ending Sunday, June 26. Republicans have led on this ballot every week since June 2009.

In a lengthy letter sent to 17 Republican senators Wednesday, Geithner offered a broad takedown of the argument that the debt limit need not be raised to avoid a default. He called such an idea “radical and deeply irresponsible,” “unwise,” “untested and unacceptably risky” and “futile.”

I wouldn’t expect Turbo Timmy to react any other way. I think he forgot part of his lines though. There’s that “tanks in the streets” thing he’s supposed to throw out there too.

Just under “O” – this reminded me of my microeconomics class, taught by Dr. Schutte. And, yes, we had a lot of fun with that name. All fitting to his ability to teach.

There was a cowboy who’d come in every day and sit in his seat in row about 3 from the back, center. He’d put his boots on the back of the chair in front of him (we had theater type seating), lean his head against the back of his seat, pull his hat down over his face, and not move from that position for the rest of the class.

He may have gotten more from the class than I did. To keep myself awake, I made a daily chart counting students “Awake,” “Trying not to fall asleep,” and “Asleep”. It was the only way I could stay awake.

There was a counterpart in Hubby’s engineering school. He was nicknamed “Dr. Sominex”.

Good wissin morning y’all. I had to take a friend to intergalactic airport this am and they had to be there AT FIVE A FREAKING CLOCK IN THE AM. The early arrival time required me to drag my carcass out of the rack at 2:45 this morning so I am not quite hitting on all cylinders.
From yesterdays o/c thread:

61 Hamous says:
June 29, 2011 at 9:05 pm
‘Cause you establishment types say it’s in the constitution and we can’t do nothing about it!

Oooh, you just wait ’til the BC hears about this!

Well now I have heard about it and all I have to say is: (cue sheeple voice): Juhuhuhuhuhuhust let the Feehehehehehehehehehds deal with it, they wont huhrhuruhuruhurt us.
/sarc off
GET THE US THE WISS OUT OF THE UN AND GET THE UN THE WISS OUT OF THE US.

MSNBC senior political analyst Mark Halperin was suspended on Thursday by the cable network after he called President Obama “a dick” on a popular morning show and then quickly apologized.

A popular morning show??? I guess by “popular” they mean that no one watches it.
What is really amazing is how he and PMSNBC apologized afterwards:

A couple of hours later, MSNBC issued a statement, saying, “Mark Halperin’s comments this morning were completely inappropriate and unacceptable. We apologize to the President, The White House and all of our viewers. We strive for a high level of discourse and comments like these have no place on our air. Therefore, Mark will be suspended indefinitely from his role as an analyst.

Did anyone notice the “if you were offended” tag was not included in this blanket apology?? Isn’t is “curious” that this genuine, blanket apology never is offered when the slam is against a R now isn’t it?
I guess it is a good thing they never let Bonecrusher on the air cuz I would call the wissin SOB a whole lot worse than what he was called. . . . . and by the way, I never knew that the foul “O” was a detective.

Good morning Hamsters. A pleasant 71 at 6 and minimal humidity, not much dew on the grass, meaning of course it will be really hot again this afternoon. Gotta be grateful for the relatively coolish morning. Regarding precipitation, well…Arlene is not coming our way. Back to watering the elephants.

The hawks have been busily swooping through the yards and pastures this morning, and last night the barred owls were in full concert in the trees near the barn. Our Keystone Kops buzzards haven’t arrived yet–too early. Breeze is still sleeping except for an occasional breath. This is what passes for boring normal at our place. Now 89 and 54% humidity at 10. Ugh.

Fort Bend County also has a ban on fireworks sales and fireworks use. Anyone seeing people violating same is encouraged to call the Sheriff’s Dept. We didn’t get that much rain last week. Nobody did.

The foul “O” is a lying sack of feces.
The Washington ComPost, once a reliable D mouthpiece, is turning on “O” and I am waiting for more dead tree “news” outlets to follow suit. I may be waiting a while.

However, Article 2, Section 1, Clause 5 of the Constitution says: “No Person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the Office of President.”

DICK “cranium” Durbin is a walking disaster; an insult to America; and living breathing evidence that stoooopid people should not be allowed to vote.

The Youth Pastor passed that out at our last meeting. I know you Catalick folks have a lot more doctrinal stuff going on in your yute ministries than us Semi-Baptist types, but i was wondering if you do any of the stuff the fellow talks about, and your reflections on his solutions.

Since you brought up CAIR …………I have a bit of local “racist” news to share:

I took a random short little cruise on Gracie last night (my wind therapy sure does help the heart, mind, and soul)…………..as I cruised back south on Baker Rd (of Craig Baker / American Pig Races notoriety)………………what do I SEE?
Those friendly, neighborly(“we’ve purchased the property next door to yours and WHEN are you moving out?), “harmless” middle eastern folks have constructed a “school” next to the Baker place……………..I’d sure love to hear what’s being taught inside those T-shacks!

In 1992 Halperin became a full-time off-air reporter traveling with then-Arkansas Governor Bill Clinton’s presidential campaign. During that campaign, Halperin violated journalistic ethics by providing to Clinton aide George Stephanopoulos a copy ABC had obtained of Mr. Clinton’s youthful “I loathe the military” letter written to his ROTC commander, according to Tom Rosenstiel’s book Strange Bedfellows. Halperin thereby gave candidate Clinton days of advance warning to prepare his response before facing reporters’ questions about this letter which Clinton had believed no longer existed.
/snip
Weeks before the 2004 presidential election, Mark Halperin issued an October 8 internal memo to the staff of ABC News, directing his reporters to ignore or minimize misstatements by Democrat candidate John F. Kerry but to attack any misstatements by Republican incumbent George W. Bush. Wrote Halperin: “… [T]he current Bush attacks on Kerry involve distortions and taking things out of context in a way that goes beyond what Kerry has done. Kerry distorts, takes out of context, and [makes] mistakes all the time, but these are not central to his efforts to win.”

“We have a responsibility,” Halperin’s memo continued, “to hold both sides accountable to the public interest, but that doesn’t mean we reflexively and artificially hold both sides ‘equally’ accountable when the facts don’t warrant that.

To use the word “journalist” to describe Halperin, one would be required to engage in linguistic fraud. The correct word to describe this POS is “propagandist.”
If there were any integrity in the “journalistic process” this guy would have been fired and barred from anything resembling the craft of journalism – I am trying to use the word correctly, as defined:

Definition of JOURNALISM

1
a : the collection and editing of news for presentation through the media
b : the public press
c : an academic study concerned with the collection and editing of news or the management of a news medium
2
a : writing designed for publication in a newspaper or magazine
b : writing characterized by a direct presentation of facts or description of events without an attempt at interpretation
c : writing designed to appeal to current popular taste or public interest

I would love to see the day when News Organizations that actually strongly adhere to #2b above.

Howdy SallyLoudMouth, nice to meet you. Your linkie thingie in #30 above states that they want global sharia law and that include here in in the good old USA. Are you under the impression that the moooooooooooslims in our country don’t hold our constitution dear?

I’ve got some bad news to report. The Senate is foregoing its 4th of July break to continue working to save our nation or something. I was hoping that I could celebrate the 4th absent the fear associated while Congress remains in session, but no such luck this year. Please, send them home and don’t come back until next year sometime.

The Republicans apparently also support this move, so that can only mean that they are getting ready to cave on the debt limit/new taxes debate. What better time to do it than when 2/3 of the nation is drunk and the TV and radio are turned off. I think the politicians have come up with a way to turn a holiday into another political asset – no need to go home and face an unruly mob of great unwashed voters, no bitchy wives to deal with, no press to confront issues, no hustle and bustle of holiday travel, more per deim expense revenue, and best of all, no one in the public will be watching. Wow, why haven’t’ they thought about this earlier? Expect a rash of new federal holidays to be added to the calendar soon.

Bone- gosh, I was a little worried that they pretty much hate our guts. when we passed them that “Will you be my friend? Check yes or no” note, they took that note, folded it into a shiv and attempted to slice our heads off.
And it’s a pleasure to meet you too!

What makes me the most sick about the billboard is the moooooooooslim in camo. Really? Is that the one that shot up Fort Hood? Maybe not the picture they wanted to paint. Dumbasses.

Since I’ve obviously been away for a while, when did Lonestar go down???

Lots of folks today like to sprinkle personal invective in their logic. I do not know why as it only detracts from the logical arguments that are made.

I have conducted many meetings where there is some joker constantly sniping with personal remarks. I am an old jungle fighter and the best way to deal with a sniper is to smoke him out….take away the cover and expose him.

(example: Say Bob, that sounds like a personal attack. We are trying to conduct a business meeting right now. Save it for later and you and I will talk. After a long long silence..the “Bobs” usually get flustered and say “Oh No…this wasn’t personal, but at that point their credibility is in tatters)

Good Politicians/Statesmen/Leaders do not use personal attacks. It is a luxury they cannot afford. Attacking policies, ideas, and laws is fair game in a democracy or in a business meeting.

Yep, that about sums it up. When I was youth minister, I knew that I had to have enough “fun” stuff to keep the kids attracted and interested, but I there was no way I could have an empty ministry. When we did our 30 Hour Famine retreats (and yes, teenagers WILL volunteer to go that long without food!), there was always some kind of spiritual reflection before we retired for the night. During the day, we did hunger awareness and service activities. We always ended with mass – ending our fast with our Lord’s Suppers, so to speak.

We had a lot of activities that were parish related, but we also attended adoration services and other such spiritual events. I remember the first one we went to, I had a teenager so moved she bawled her head off when we left. Our youth conferences had a place to meet, greet, and had fun, but our workshops delved into prayer and faith and such.

One meeting a month, we had “Pillow Talk” nights. The kids could bring pillows or cushions to sit or lay on, and any snacks they wanted. Putting them on the floor in such an informal atmosphere really loosened them up. Those nights were totally unstructured, and we talked about anything they wanted to discuss. One night we did nothing but sing stupid grade school songs like “Greasy Grimy Gopher Guts”. It was a fun night, but I gained a new insight into some of my more quiet members! We also discussed things like racism in our current society. We talked about morality, and where our faith fit in.

The description in this article is not far from the truth, but we can’t blame it all on youth ministry. I went to CCE all the way through high school, and left without feeling I knew my faith at all. (It was post-Vatican II era, and we were taught that “God loves us” and not a whole lot else.) It wasn’t until my mid to late twenties that I began researching my faith on my own, reclaiming a heritage that I hadn’t fully understood.

All we can hope is that those that fall away from their faith let that seed that was planted when they were young grow at some later time. I was told when I started my ministry work that it could be very discouraging because it could be years before we saw any results. I had a girl in my first YM group that popped up years later on Facebook – a hardcore, very happy Christian. She emailed me, apologizing for not paying more attention to what I was teaching back when she was a teenager. It took her a while to realize what she had her hands on. Though she’s not in the Catholic faith, I’m content to sit and wait, and let the Holy Spirit work on her a little more.

I think it has been around a year or so, the demise came when the Righthaven schizzle eating scum bags were engaging in judicial extortion. I don’t think LST was ever targeted, however, they chose to fold rather than risk the fight.
You probably have not read many of my posts regarding moooooooooooslims and their worship of the moon god Ha Satan, aka allah the terd-nozzle. I don’t much care for them and they can not be reasoned with nor do any contracts/treaties have any bearing on their overall desire to institute sharia law globally. I do have a really great application for moooooooslims, however, they would make excellent bullet catchers.

#35 Simple: I guess I take it personally when the vast majority of a profession, Journalists, use blatant falsehoods and underhanded tactics under the color of impartiality to viciously attack that which I hold dear. I hold those who engage in the above with extreme contempt and I am not afraid to let that be known.

Barry O must be really messing up if Bubba is starting to insert himself into the fray again. Or could it be that Bubba just can’t stay out of the spotlight?
And what “pearls of wisdom” does Bubba offer. . . . . .kick the can further down the road.

Former President Bill Clinton sees a possible way past the bipartisan impasse over raising the debt limit: agree to cut spending AND raise taxes, but do neither until later, after the economy improves.

He needs to concentrate on skirt chasing and stay out of policy/politics.

#30 – No Sally – the school (actually 2 or 3 T-shacks) is near (less than 2 miles) where I live out here in Katy………….I think that combination rural / suburban neighborhood is in ‘Barker’ if the post office still considers that a town………………..

I have a VERY personal interest in this topic, so I think it’s important that this information be shared freely:

HOUSTON – Dr. Soner Tarim, superintendent and CEO of Harmony Public Schools, issued the following statement today regarding the recently announced Legislative inquiry into the business practices of Texas charter schools:

“We welcome the opportunity to demonstrate to the Texas Legislature that excellence is the standard at Harmony Public Schools – whether it is in our curriculum, our classrooms or our business practices. Like all public schools in Texas, whether traditional or charter, we are required to operate in full compliance with the laws, regulations and guidance set by the State of Texas, and we do so.

It is worth noting that just last week, Newsweek magazine named two of our high schools (Harmony Science Academy-North Austin and Harmony Science Academy-Dallas) as two of the “Top 500″ high schools in America. Those two schools were also included in the magazine’s list of “Ten Miracle High Schools” in America that deliver outstanding educational services despite serving low-income students and having limited funding.

We are very proud of our 10-year record of success in delivering a rigorous math- and science-focused curriculum to the children of Texas. We also recognize that successful education programs, and especially those whose success is seen as some sort of challenge to traditional public schools, are bound to have their critics. It is unfortunate, however, that a small but very vocal group of critics here in Texas have chosen to use inaccurate information, rumors and innuendo, some of it tinged with religious bigotry and anti-immigrant rhetoric, in an effort to paint our schools in a negative light or to allege affiliations that do not exist.

Our record of achievement on behalf of Texas public school children speaks for itself and our business practices are publicly documented and audited. We look forward to working with the Texas Legislature to openly and transparently address the issues that have been raised and, in doing so, to share our approach to educational best practices with other schools and educators in Texas.”

“Being a Christian isn’t hard,” he told the group. “You won’t lose your friends or be unpopular at school. Nothing will change. Your life will be the same, just better.”

Maybe his words would have slipped by me if they hadn’t been such blatant reversals of Jesus’ own warnings about the offensiveness of his message or the inevitable hardships of following him.

I glanced at the teens. One was flicking Doritos chips at a friend. Others whispered to each other or stared at the floor. None of them seemed to be listening. And why should they? I wondered. Who cares about something that involves no adventure, no sacrifice, and no risk?

I have witnessed how attempting to follow Christ can and does result in hardship, and do struggle to show this to the Young Men (Middle School) and how the experience can be a positive one.

I do think there are are off campus activities that can introduce a sense of adventure, sacrifice, and risk–especially for the Young Men (and none of them involve getting a sammich) and am looking for things locally that might have that flavor without being too costly and are still an easy and logical illustration of what Christ meant about the perils of following Him.

While fellowship is part of our Christianity, it sounded like the youth in the article were getting only that. Hangout out does not equal growing up.

Every year I warn my kids that we go fast and cover a lot – because I know that at some point they’ll be challenged and will need to explain their faith. I can only imagine what my kids feel like after a few weeks with me – I feel like such a beginner apologist myself. While I hold no illusions about their ability or their willingness to absorb everything I’m teaching them, I want them to know (1) that the answers are out there and (2) where to go to find them. I give them a reading list at the beginning of the year, and web site addresses throughout the year.

#58 SD: That was the article I linked to. It is this idiotic decision by Jerry Moonbeam Brown to raise taxes instead of cutting spending the drew me to the conclusion. Californika is sliding down the same slope that Greece is/was and leaving the same nasty, smelly skidmark of socialism on the undergarment of civilization.

Yup and for every action there is an equal opposite reaction, I.E. unintended consequences;
Amazon ends deal with 25,000 California websites.

Well;

Our Proven Conservative Leadership passed a bill to do the same thing to Amazon in the Regular Session, and Perry Vetoed it.

Then, our Proven Conservative Leadership added it to School Finance in the Special Session.

Perry’s choice now is to veto it again and call another Special Session.

I like that idea. I’d like to see him call for another special for that and the TSA Groping Bill and the Sanctuary cities bill that our Proven Conservative Leadership in the Texas house thinks aren’t really Proven Conservative Issues. Maybe they’d get the message.

* Repeating an old story, the article alleges connections where there are none. As we told the Times reporter repeatedly, Harmony Schools do not teach religion and have no affiliation with Fetullah Gulen or the so-called Gulen movement yet the article repeatedly states and implies that such an affiliation exists, based on a composite of innuendo, circumstantial evidence and rumors. This approach is disappointing, but perhaps not surprising, since the absence of a connection is not “news.” The facts are clear: We do not teach religion at all and we are not affiliated with any movement.

SallyLoudmouth, I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt and assume that you have no affiliation with the group that you linked to in #30. Act! For America Houston is apparently a collection of fundamentalist morons who have no qualms about spreading their own unique brand of vile racial hatred and innuendo through cyberspace and anywhere else they think people will listen to their nonsense. If you are indeed affiliated with that group I would suggest to the proprietor of this blog that you fall squarely into this part of his mission statement:

Hambone hates racists of any color. If your comments contain any racist bent to them they will be deleted and you will be banned toot sweet.

I came across something a bit ironic, or at least an unintended commentary on our age in my reading last night. I began The Red Rover by James Fenimore Cooper (written about 1827) last night and this passage caught my eye:

It must be remembered that there is an
undue proportion of landsmen employed in the mechanical as well as the
more spiritual part of book-making; a fact which, in itself, accounts for
the numberless imperfections that still embarrass the respective
departments of the occupation. In due time, no doubt, a remedy will befound for this crying evil; and then the world may hope to see the several
branches of the trade a little better ordered. The true Augustan age of
literature can never exist until works shall be as accurate, in their
typography, as a “log book,” and as sententious, in their matter, as a
“watch-bill.”

What struck me is that I read that on my Kindle—-what may bring about the “Augustan age” that he spreaks of.

Doooooooooood re: Harmony:
Our prison system is full of people proclaiming their innocence, their proclamations don’t carry a whole lot of weight with me. Just because this school claims that they are not doing anything untoward does not make it so. Islam has a precept known as taquiyya which dictates that mooooooslims are commanded to deceive any non-mooooooslim.
Let me stipulate here that I do not know what is going on in that school. Further, I am absolutely NOT going to grant moral equivalence between Act for America and any mooooooslim oriented group; Act always get the benefit of the doubt in these cases. If there is anything other than a statement from Harmony (kind of like the team captain telling us that his team is #1) that would/could bolster their position I will listen, otherwise I take the concept of taquiyya and consider the source.
Let’s not forget that the head of Act for America, Bridgitte Gabrielle lived most of her child hood in fear of being murdered by the mooooooslims, her only crime being a non-mooooslim. She witnessed FIRST HAND the savagery of what islam represents.

Let me stipulate here that I do not know what is going on in that school. Further, I am absolutely NOT going to grant moral equivalence between Act for America and any mooooooslim oriented group; Act always get the benefit of the doubt in these cases.

No you certainly do not know what’s going on at Harmony, but I certainly do. Act! for America gets no benefit of the doubt from me. You have an obviously biased and preconceived notion of what Harmony schools are all about that completely obscures any reasonable take on the situation. For you to advance the notion that Harmony is engaging in taqiyya is nothing short of asinine.

Glad to see you on Hammie’s couch, Sally. Missed you so much from our LST days. Please hang around some more.

From our 39 years of owning Arabian horses and the research we’ve done in the history of their importation into the US and Britain in the late 1800s and 1900s, the early importers mention that while it is acceptable for Arabs (Moslems) to lie to infidels because they are infidels, a Bedouin will not lie about the pedigrees of his horses. Now most if not all of the current Arab countries’ ruling classes since WWI and the days of Lawrence of Arabia are several generations removed from the desert Bedouin existence but still keep royal stables and some private stables. Some of those are in decline, IMHO likely the result of the distance removed from the desert existence, wherein your life frequently depended on your horse, and you paid strict attention to good breeding and bloodlines.

The Egyptian Royal Agricultural Society/Egyptian Agricultural Organization gutted its breeding stock by selling off their best horses to Americans and Europeans over the years. The Polish state stud and its successors since the breakup of the Soviet Union did not do this. They sold to other countries but kept plenty of their best bloodlines at home. The wise shopper in Poland is well advised to see what they are not selling, and then try to buy from those bloodlines. Many Americans bought their culls when all the rage here were Polish importations. The Europeans were more discerning. The Russians likewise did not sell off all their good stock.

There are more Arabian horses in the US than in the rest of the world combined; many Middle Eastern buyers of and breeders to US horses improve their bloodstock with our bloodlines. Contessa and Cameo have numerous half-siblings in the stud books of just about all the Middle Eastern countries (including Israel). Their sire was on lease from a prominent American breeder to a breeder in England for two years, and it was there that he was at stud or his offspring were available to buyers. Two of Cameo’s and Contessa’s half sisters were Champion and Reserve Champion 2-Year Old Filly and Champion and Reserve Junior Female at the 1987 British National Show.

IMHO Bridgiette Gabrielle and Pam Geller know of what they speak regarding the malevolent strains of Moslems.